Holistic Youth Centers and The Angel Project

In 2018, over 4,100 youth benefitted from ELEM’s multicultural programs.

Holistic Youth Centers

ELEM’s five Holistic Youth Centers are housed in community centers. They provide specialized services, including therapy and workshops, for youth and families from the broad spectrum of cultural and religious backgrounds in Israel. ELEM’s counselors are aware of the particular needs of these populations and provide culturally sensitive support and counseling. Counselors from ELEM’s Multicultural field provide training and supervision to professionals both inside and outside ELEM who work with at-risk youth from all of these unique cultures.

The Angel Project

The Angel Project recruits adult volunteers from the community and trains them to work in the Holistic Youth Centers in local neighborhoods. Its goal is to address the generation gap of immigrant parents and their Israeli-born children and to empower the local community on behalf of the youth.

Where are our programs located?

The three Angel projects are located in Rehovot, Petach Tikva, and Kiryat Malachi. The six Holistic Youth Programs are located in Jerusalem (Pisgat Ze’ev, Neve Ya’akov), Hadera (Clor, Givat Olga, Beit Eliezer), Beit Shemesh (Zinman). For a map of all of our projects, click here.

Who do we serve?

The project serves youth ages 12 to 18 from varied unique cultural backgrounds including immigrants and children of immigrants from Ethiopia and the Former Soviet Union, Arab youth and Ultra-Orthodox/Chareidi youth. The target population includes youth found on the risk spectrum who may be experiencing social problems; absorption and identity issues; family problems; those who have dropped-out from the school system; and those youth with a tendency towards dangerous behaviors such as substance abuse, violence or delinquency.

New Trends​

The escalation and radicalization of violence following the abuse of alcohol and consumption of psychoactive drugs. This year we encountered an escalation and radicalization of violent events and involvement in criminal activity among youth, in particular, physical violence, sexual violence, and drug trafficking.

“We feel confident and feel that you are helping us, not just working with our kids. You are talking to us and that’s new for us. You can see our strengths and not only our weaknesses. It gives us the strength to become more involved.”

Parent of Youth Participant

Achievements for 2018

Expanding work in the community with parents. Now ELEM is in contact with 80 percent of the families of the youth, resulting in an increase in the numbers of parents and family members cooperating and supporting the youth’s therapy process.

More family involvement garnered more donations of food and equipment and volunteering in the fields of renovations, gardening, cooking and more.